1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply apparatus and a power supply method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many electronic devices, such as personal computers and game machines, use altering-circuit (AC) adapters for their operating and for charging their batteries. AC power is input to an AC adapter from a commercial power source, and then power adapted to a device is output from the AC adapter. Ordinary electric devices operate by a direct-current (DC), where the voltage and/or the current of each device may be different from each other. Accordingly, the standards of AC adapters for outputting power adapted to each device would be different for each device, which results in the disadvantageously increased number of AC adapters for the increased number of devices. Even similarly-shaped AC adapters may not be compatible with each other.
For such disadvantage, there is proposed a power source bus system, in which a power supply block for supplying power to a device, such as a battery or an AC adapter, and a power consuming block for being supplied with the power from the power supply block are connected to one common direct-current bus line (See JP 2001-306191 (A) and JP 2008-123051 (A)). In such power source bus system, a direct current flows through the bus line. Each block is described as an object, and the object for each block transmit/receive information (state data) to/from each other through the bus line. Furthermore, the object for each block generates the information (state data), based upon a request from an object for another block, and transmits it as a response data. Then, the object for the block received the response data can control power supply and consumption, based upon the contents of the received response data.